The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International
EDI
PRE
Dr. SIDEN
T
Liz
Big :
lin
Lin
Alpha Delta State
GAMMA
April 2013
Volume 36, Issue 5
Columbus, Ohio
TOR
:
da D
olfi
WEB
S
ITE:
h
gam ttp://
mao
hio.c
o
INFO FROM ALPHA
DELTA STATE (as found on the
Alpha Delta State Website)
33
Reasons Why It's Great to Be a Member of Delta
Kappa Gamma
* The above title is a link
Why Belong to This
International Society?
"The best feature of Delta Kappa Gamma is the
new friendships which it brings. I value yours."
Dr. Annie Webb Blanton, Founder
Check this website out and compare your
reasons are with the ones listed.
Perhaps you are missing out on some of the
benefits and possibilities of being a Delta Kappa
Gamma sister!
Mission:
Do you Recognize Our Gamma Sisters?
(Photo courtesy of Gamma Scrapbooks)
1988 President Elect Linda Ruehrmund and
President Eileen Young attend the State Conference.
Perhaps they can share what the poster is about.......
For more history of Alpha Delta State:
http://alphadeltastate.weebly.com/our-history.html
The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International promotes professional and personal growth of women
educators and excellence in education.
GAMMA
PAGE
2
Message from Our President, Dr. Liz Biglin
Greeting Gamma Sisters,
Thank you to all of you who have been
so kind and supporting of my first half
as your President. I appreciate your
under-standing that this position
is difficult and that no one can satisfy
everyone.
We are working on two items. The first is
the Raffle project that Janet Halter and
Linda Dolfi will be handling at our April
20th meeting. I will meet with Artist Linda
Langhorst, Dr. Nicole Gnezda, Gallery
Owner,Marcia Evans, and Lotion &
Pottery maker, Karen Buoncristiano to
Collect their donations to our “Schools for
Africa” Raffle. Pat Cermak,Alpha Delta
State Second Vice President, who gave
the presentation on this DKG project,
challenged me to find an interesting way
to encourage members to give to this
worthy cause.
The second item is our June 11 Birthday
Celebration and Program Planning
meeting. Janet Halter is working on the
place and the Member-ship Committee
will work with the Executive Board to
create the Birthday Pro-gram. Michele
Koenig will be in charge of the Planning
Program.
1938!! Miss Marie Gugle was our first
chapter President. A short summary of
her story will be told along with two other
Alpha Delta State noted ladies, through
a presentation created by Linda Dolfi, at
our May 8th Founder’s Day Celebration at
Creekside, Gahanna. It has been a
pleasure working with Gamma Mu on this
venture.
Since Gamma is also celebrating our
75th, I hope we have a great turn out. The
price of the meal is the same as it was for
last year’s buffet - $26.00. And this year
we will be served at our tables and you
will have four choices of meals to select
from. I hope you plan to attend.
Sincerest wishes for a wonder Spring
And I hope you all had a great Easter!
Your Gamma Sister,
Liz Biglin, Ph.D.
Gamma will celebrate it’s 75 Birthday this
year! Gamma was founded June 4,
Please consider supporting our Gamma Chapter by being the Corresponding &
Recording Secretary. We need your help!
GAMMA! PAGE 3
Birthday Celebrations and Other
Calendar Events
Mark your calendars!!
April
June Meeting:
1
7
12
17
18
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Esther Panning
Joan Parsons
Bev McPherson
Judy Valentine
Katherine Wheeler
May
7
17
23
29
Dorotha Fuhrman
Ellen Clark
Dr. E. Jane Porter
Carol Kiefer
TIME: 10:30 am
LOCATION: To be determined
PROGRAM: “Birthday
Celebration”
HOSTESSES: Carolyn Bordelon,
Linda Dolfi*
THOUGHT: Linda Dolfi*
LUNCH: Potluck
* Change in hostesses
Liz’s Daughter and
Grandson
They are presenting a
check with donations to
Children's hospital.
Grayson,Liz’s grandson,
is the middle boy. Dina,
his mother, is to the left,
in front of him.
Gamma sisters celebrate Grayson’s good health and generous spirit!
GAMMA!
PAGE
4
Gamma Chapter Meeting Minutes
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
March 2, 2013
President Dr. Liz Biglin called Mary Ellen Angeletti, who is the meeting to order at 10:00 r e c o v e r i n g f r o m k n e e AM
replacement surgery;
Mary Cardinal, whose husband Thought for the Day: has been very ill; and
Judy Valentine shared the joys of Reba Kanning, whose husband education, in line with the has recently suffered a stroke.
program about Schools for Joanne Katonak will be going Africa. A short blessing was said in for surgery this Thursday, for before brunch was served.
an overnight stay.
S i n c e w e a r e a s k i n g f o r volunteer hours, Liz showed three of seven quilts that she has made since December, while working as a volunteer for her church. Quilts are donated to the poor.
Hostesses, Judy Valentine, Mary Anne Wiedenheft, and Ester Panning, were thanked for the w o n d e r f u l S t . P a t r i c k ’ s decorations and candy. Liz thanked them for the great brunch.
February Minutes: The section of minutes referring to reading of new member’s information once because of a time limit for the conference, was amended to read “this time only.” Minutes were approved as corrected.
Treasurer’s report: Cathe sent this via e-­‐mail:
February balance $4285.78
February check activity – Michelle Koenig Redbook mailings -­‐24.70
Members in need of chapter Alpha Delta State support: … new initiate -­‐ 5.00
Those present were asked to Alpha Delta State new sign cards for:
initiate luncheon -­‐44.00
March 2, 2013 check balance $4212.78
Report `iled for audit. Shared correspondence: Liz received an e-­‐mail from Reba informing us that our new member’s information has been sent in on time for the State convention initiation. Ellen Clark e-­‐mailed Liz, that the G a m m a we b s i te h a s b e e n approved by the International. There is no longer an issue with s h a r i n g m e m b e r s ’ e -­‐ m a i l information. Only Ellen’s e-­‐mail has to be displayed at the bottom of our site.
UnCinished business:
Founder’s day information – Linda Dol`i has created a power point featuring three prominent Alpha Delta State Ladies, and interesting information for the time periods in which these ladies lived. This will be shared at the April meeting. Reba has w o r k e d o n t h e m u s i c a l a c c o m p a n i m e n t f o r t h i s program. Table decorations info was shared.
Members were asked to keep the top portion of their order form as it contains basic information regarding this event. Color cards Kudos to Michelle Koenig for recording the minutes.
GAMMA!
PAGE
5
Gamma Chapter Meeting Minutes
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
March 2, 2013, continued
will be given when you sign in, indicating which meal choice you made for the server’s bene`it. These are placed on the table.
regarding our upcoming new slate of of`icers and information regarding opportunity to serve at the state level. Her topic was the DKG International project “Schools for Africa”. Pat passed out pictures of students who bene`ited from this program and Michele found a new speaker gave a brief history of the from the Columbus Literacy student. Working with UNICEF, council, for our April meeting, DKG will help provide `ive since our previous artist speaker million African children with will be unable to attend.
access to education. Emphasis for providing educational Liz shared that we are still opportunities for young girls seeking a recording secretary. was noted. Africa was selected Our members need to remember because we currently have no that being a member involves DKG chapters there. Ten African the responsibility of accepting countries are receiving help ways to help our chapter from this program.
succeed successfully. Delta Eta recently ended as a chapter, was There are concerns for children it because no one signed up for not having access to education chapter positions?
due to the extreme poverty. There is not a middle class and Liz closed the business part of as the economics took a the meeting and introduced our downward turn, the cost of speaker, Alpha Delta State education fell to the families. Second Vice President, Pat Girls who have reached puberty Cermak. Pat shared information face the threat of being raped or regarding our upcoming new becoming pregnant. Programs slate of of`icers and information that encourage girls to attend Books for the convention were collected, twenty one so far. Turn in volunteer hours. school and provide opportunities in engineering and technology `ields are supported through this program.
An increase in the number of orphans due to parents dying from Aids is a major concern in parts of Africa. Grandparents or older aunts or uncles are now left to raise these children. UNICEF is helping to pay for their education.
Schools for Africa will be an on-­‐
going DKG International project. Local chapters are encouraged to include this project in their budget. Pat explained how the donations, in varying amounts, provide different levels of supplies and support. More information can be found on the DKG International website. The September DKG bulletin has an article about the project. Also, Pat will send her program notes to Ellen Clark for our website.
Meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Michele Koenig
First Vice-­‐President Kudos to Michelle Koenig for recording the minutes.
GAMMA!
PAGE
6
Gamma Professional Affairs Report
April 18, 2013
Issues at the Statehouse:
Ohio law requires the retirement systems to prepare a report when the amortization period for the unfunded pension
liability exceeds 30 years. In March, STRS sent a letter to the Ohio Retirement Study Council (ORSC) to outline the
fund's plan to reach the state's required 30 year amortization period. The letter noted that the passage of Substitute
Senate Bill 342 significantly improved STRS Ohio's funding and that the system's actuarial consultant projects that if
assumptions are met in each of the next two years, STRS Ohio should be back on a 30 year amortization schedule.
During the April 9th ORSC meeting, Rep. Kirk Schuring (a council member) acknowledged STRS Ohio for its report and
for the work the system did to craft a pension reform plan to improve the financial health of the retirement system. He
praised STRS for adjusting its actuarial assumptions and making the necessary sacrifices to help strengthen the health
of the fund. ORSC Chair, Rep. Lynn Wachtmann requested that STRS provide information about the system's
compliance with the 30 year requirement during the past decade, and STRS delivered the information promptly. The
next ORSC meeting is scheduled for May 8th at 8 a.m.
!
!
Majority House Republicans outlined their revisions to Gov. John Kasich's $63.3 billion budget package, House Bill 59,
upon their return on Apr. 9th from a two-week spring break. The governor had several major focal points: education
funding, tax changes including a broadening of the sales tax base, Medicaid expansion, and the turnpike. During the
revision process, the House did not extend the sales tax to the services the governor was looking to include such as
legal, accounting, and lobbying, among others. Instead, the House budget would incorporate the proposed 20% across
the board income tax cut phased in over three years, but there was no broadening of sales taxes to services as the
governor had proposed. Instead, Rep. Ron Amstutz (Chair of the House Finance & Appropriations Committee) said that
the House will use anticipated revenue growth and the sizeable projected year end carryover balance from the current
fiscal year to cover the reduction, which will equate to $1.5 billion over two years. The governor's 50% tax cut for small
business was rejected by the House in favor of funding the broader income tax reduction. Apparently the House still had
changes to tax policy it wants to make prior to sending the bill to the Senate.
The expansion of Medicaid, which was part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but optional on the part of the states as
determined by the U.S. Supreme Court last summer did not survive in the House. Though the expansion to 138% of
federal poverty level would have purportedly drawn down $2.4 billion in federal funds to cover the cost of insuring
another 275,000 Ohioans for the next two years, it was an uphill battle from the beginning. Many House Republicans,
while finding the notion objectionable based on politics, were also concerned about funding going forward and the ability
of the state to get out from under the expansion at a later time.
Also as anticipated, the House adjusted Gov. Kasich's Achievement Everywhere school funding formula to resemble the
former Building Blocks approach enacted under former Gov. Bob Taft. The budget as amended by the House would
spend about $1.8 billion less in general revenue funds over the biennium than the governor proposed, largely due to the
removal of the Medicaid expansion. The full House Finance and Appropriations Committee and the House are expected
to vote during the week of Apr. 15th.
With the Senate anticipating getting the budget from the House the week of Apr. 15th, Senate President Keith Faber
recently announced a schedule for the Senate's processing of Gov. John Kasich's biennial budget measure. According
to reports, the Senate will begin hearing the bill informally on Apr. 16th. The Subcommittee hearing process will then
Kudos to Mary Ellen for representing us and reporting to us re: STRS!
GAMMA!
PAGE
7
Gamma Professional Affairs Report
April 18, 2013, continued
commence the week of Apr. 22. Reports from the subcommittees are due to the full Senate Finance Committee on May
23rd with a substitute version of the bill due to be released on May 28th. The Finance Committee is scheduled to vote on
the Senate version of the bill on June 4th and the full Senate on June 5th.
Issues on Capitol Hill:
A Republican senator is trying to find out if news of a key change to the calculation of Medicare Advantage payment
rates was leaked early. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on Apr.1st that it will
increase payments to insurers providing coverage through Medicare Advantage by 3.3%. It had previously indicated that
it would reduce payments by 2.3%. The change results from CMS deciding to yield to requests that it change its
calculations to reflect certain expectations concerning Medicare's sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. The SGR,
which was intended by Congress to automatically set Medicare's physician payment rates, annually threatens to slash
the federal government's payments to doctors for services provided to Medicare patients, but Congress has overridden
the SGR calculations every year for the past decade in order to avoid payment cuts that, it has been feared, would drive
doctors out of the Medicare program. Even though the cuts have never actually taken effect, CMS had assumed each
year that they would when calculating projected Medicare spending for the following year. When those projections were
used to calculate payment rates for Medicare Advantage (MA), which offers benefits through private insurers,
participating insurers complained of being short-changed as a result of unrealistically low projections of doctor
payments. This year, following political pressure by lawmakers and others, CMS, over the objections of its actuary,
decided to assume that Congress would block the rate cuts. A firm called Height Securities correctly predicted the
change shortly before it was announced, driving up the stock prices of some insurers, and Sen. Charles Grassley, RIowa, sent a letter to CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner to provide information about the decision and who received
advanced notice of CMSs Apr.1st announcement prior to the public notification at 4:30 p.m. Tavenner said on Apr. 9th
that she considers the matter to be a "huge issue" and that the Dept. of Health and Human Services inspector general is
conducting an inquiry.
Issues from the STRS Board Meeting of Thursday, April 18th, 2013:
The STRS Ohio Investment Department reported that March was another good month with a +12.4% estimated return.
Returns from domestic equities exceeded expectations (three times what was expected) up 18.3%. The equity markets
are presently ignoring risks. The preliminary report for the nine months of fiscal 2013 equals 13.03%. The value of the
total fund is $68 billion. We are certainly going in the right direction! Steve Mitchell gave a mid April update saying that it
is expected that volatility will return to equity markets along with declines in gold and emerging markets.
The Finance Department reported on proposed budgets for 2013 and 2014 which are supporting the pension reform and
strategic plan. Refinements have been made to the DC Plan and the Combined Plans. Bob Slater and Paul Snyder
reported a surge in retirements and service purchasing. Components of the budget are operating expenditures, capital
expenditures, and State of Ohio requirements. There are individual budgets for member benefits, finance, investments,
and executive. Budgets are presented to the Executive Director, the Deputy Executive Director, and Finance controller.
Finance meets with all department heads. The budget timeline is determined by S.B. 133 which requires a budget
review by the ORSC before adoption by the STRS Retirement Board. The timeline is April 18 --Board Presentation, April
19 -- Budget will be sent to the ORSC, May 8 -- Anticipated presentation to ORSC, and June 20 -- Adoption of the
budget by the STRS Board.
Kudos to Mary Ellen for representing us and reporting to us re: STRS!
GAMMA!
PAGE
8
The majority (76%) of budget expenditures are in salaries and benefits. The proposed operating budget is slightly less
than the prior year budget. It represents a 4.5% increase from the current year. Budget to budget comparisons benefits
from health care consulting reductions, reduced print and outsourced distribution charges, and lower electrical costs.
59% of active teachers considering retirement this year filled out an online form for retirement which saves on paper
costs. The 2013 capital improvement was primarily for the recaulking of the south building. The anticipated capital
improvements for 2014 will be UPS battery replacement for equipment, system access firewall upgrades, print
management software, and enterprise search software. The budget for the State of Ohio Requirements will be $365,000.
Following the Finance Dept. report, STRS member Craig Brooks spoke to the fact that this was his 7th budget cycle and
"Our budget remains too high each year".
The afternoon session consisted of the Executive Director Mike Nehf's report, Enterprise Risk Management--Legal
Department, Enterprise Risk Management -- Human Resource Services Department, and two individuals who spoke to
the Board during Public Participation. The two individuals who addressed the Board were Dennis Leone and Nadine
McIlwain who are both running for the two retired teacher vacancies on the STRS Board. Both of these individuals
complained to the Board regarding the form of the ballot which is prescribed by the Retirement Board. Their complaint
was the fact that the form for the ballot in 2009 when again two retired teacher vacancies occurred was changed in the
current 2013 ballot. In 2009 the ballot instructions were "Select up to TWO candidates" but in the 2013 ballot the
instructions are "Select two candidates". They said that this was the case on the mail-in ballot and on the internet ballot.
Except on the internet ballot, one received a second voting option with the instructions "You may vote for up to TWO
candidates". Their complaint was that by instructing retirees to vote for two candidates this procedure split the vote in
half which weakened their chances to win. They both asked for a new election in which the form of the ballot would be
the same as it had been in 2009. Not only did the STRS Board members not respond to the two candidate's questions
but they left them out on a limb with no decision. Not one Board member responded. This was not fair to these
candidates who had brought a legitimate complaint to the Board.
The next STRS Ohio Board meeting will be Thursday, May 23rd.
Submitted by Mary Ellen Angeletti
Kudos to Mary Ellen for representing us and reporting to us re: STRS!